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MICHIGAN - Today’s date will symbolize how far in the year that women must work to earn the same amount men have earned in the previous year. Equal Pay Day is Tuesday, March 31.

Equal Pay Day originated in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity to raise public awareness to spotlight the gap between a man and woman’s wages. The leaders at NCPE came to a decision years ago to select a Tuesday in the month of April as Equal Pay Day, and Tuesday was chosen to represent how far in the next work week a woman has to work to earn what a man earned from the week before. The date selected is also selected to avoid holidays that are religious.

In 1973, a woman who worked full-time earned an average 56.6 cents to every dollar to what a man would earn working full-time. In 2018, women have reached 81.6 cents in their financial earnings. According to the NCPE, they have estimated that over a working lifetime, the wage will cost a women in America along with her family an estimated $700,000 to $2 million, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions.

The U.S Census Bureau’s statistically shows that the most up-to-date Population Survey Data tracks the midpoint financial earnings of year-round full time workers. Women in the workforce make up two thirds of hourly-wage workers who earn less than minimum wage, but also make up slightly less than half of the workforce, and is even greater for most women of other color. No matter the occupation, this particular issue has also affected pay within levels of education as well.

With all the statistics shown, women won’t achieve equal pay until the year 2059.